Day 282 – Colossians: What Christians should do

“𝐷𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑓𝑢𝑙 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡. 𝑃𝑟𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑢𝑠, 𝑡𝑜𝑜, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑢𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠. 𝑃𝑟𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝐼 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑. 𝐿𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦. 𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒.” 𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑠 4:2-6 𝑁𝐿𝑇

False teachers were promoting a heresy, or false religion, that stressed self-made rules (legalism). This included seeking spiritual growth through severe discipline of the body (asceticism) and visions (mysticism). This belief system often created pride in its followers’ self-centred efforts. Unfortunately, these ideas continue today. As Christians, we must not cling to our own ideas and try to blend them into Christianity, nor should we let our hunger for a more fulfilling Christian experience cause us to trust in a teacher, a group, or a system of thought more than in Christ Jesus Himself.

Because our sins have been forgiven and we have been reconciled to God, we have a union with Christ that can never be broken. In our faith connection with Him, we identify with His death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and return. Because of this, we can live in an intimate relationship with God, unifying us with Christ and one another.

Jesus said that we should love as He loves us, and with the Great Commission, to spread the Gospel of Good News and make disciples. Love is Jesus.

Prayer: Father, thank You for guiding us through the Holy Spirit in discernment to identify heresy and to constantly search for Your truth. Teach us to love others like Jesus intended, with all our hearts, to show them Your great love. Amen.